Jor-El
Jor-El was a respected scientist from Krypton, the foremost member of the Kryptonian Thinker Guild and husband of Lara-Lor Van. He is father of Kal-El, who he sent to Earth so he could save him from the destruction of Krypton. Kal grew into the superhero Superman. Following his demise, an artificial hologram of Jor-El appeared to Kal-El in a Kryptonian scout ship that had landed on Earth. Biography Early Life Jor-El was born on the planet of Krypton, and was genetically engineered into the Kryptonian Thinker Guild to harness his intelligence and innovation. In time he grew to become the planet's foremost scientist and married Lara Lor-Van. He also shared mutual respect with General Zod, a friend of his youth. Both agreeing that Krypton was a dying planet and action needed to be taken. As a prolific scientist, Jor-El would come to invent and design many things, including the Black Zero starship and the Phantom Zone Projector. Birth of Kal-El and Death He and his wife Lara had a son that they named Kal-El. Once it was discovered that Krypton would be destroyed, Jor-El and Lara planned to send him to the far planet Earth, so that he wouldn't die as well. He reasoned with Krypton's leaders to give him the Growth Codex, to which they refused. At that moment, General Zod and his radical Sword of Rao loyalists entered, disbanding the council and arresting Jor-El. Jor-El escaped and flew on his loyal war kite mount H'Raka to the Codex's location, and took it back with him to his homestead. There, he combined it with his son's DNA. General Zod entered and demanded that the Codex be returned to him. Upon the revelation that Jor-El and Lara had a naturally-born child and that the Codex was with him, Zod attacked Jor-El in rage, and a fight between both former friends ensued. Jor-El, however, managed to gain the upper hand, and helped Lara launch the infant's starship just in time. Just as he was watching it launch, however, a vengeful Zod stabbed Jor-El in the chest with his wrist-blade, mortally wounding him. Jor-El's death was not in vain, however, as Kal-El was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, in rural Kansas on Earth, and they raised the boy well, giving him the name "Clark Kent". Post-Mortem Artificial Consciousness After a now adult Kal-El boarded an ancient Kryptonian scout ship that had landed on Earth, he unknowingly inserted the AI in to the ship's mainframe system. The hologram, which took the form of Jor-El, told Clark of Krypton's history, General Zod's coup, and the reason Clark was sent to Earth. He then gave Clark a suit instructed him to set great examples for Humans to follow. He guided Clark to test his limits, and to truly master his powers. Later, while being held hostage on board General Zod's flagship, Lois Lane spoke with Jor-El's consciousness using the command key that Superman had given her. He helped her to escape and taught her how to stop Zod's plan. He was then approached by Superman, freeing him by altering the ship's internal atmosphere to match that of Earth's. Jor-El sent Kal to Lois' life and to stop Zod from obtaining the codex on Earth. Afterwards, General Zod took control of the Kryptonian scout ship and met Jor-El's hologram, referring to him as a "ghost". Jor-El yet again urged Zod to stop his attempt at recreating Krypton on Earth, but Zod was intent on carrying out his plans. He overrided the program containing Jor-El's consciousness once and for all. Personality Genetically engineered to born into the Kryptonian Thinker Guild as a scientist, Jor-El was extremely intelligent, one of the greatest and most prolific minds of Krypton. Unlike most of his fellow Kryptonians though, Jor-El was also a highly innovative individual who was capable of breaking the thinking boundaries programmed into his engineered DNA. As a result, the scientist could see that Krypton's society was stale,flawed, and outdated, so he and his wife subsequently chose the illegal step of having a natural born child, strongly believing in their cause. Knowing that his planet was to be imminently destroyed, Jor-El took the strong and incredibly hard step of sending his son to Earth so that he can survive and also to be free of Kryptonian society's chains and be truly free, choosing to stay behind so that any flaws does not travel with his son, since he still considered himself to be as much a product of the outdated society as his former friend General Zod. Jor-El also upheld what his family, the House of El had always represented - hope, within which was embodied the potential that every individual has to be a force for good and righteousness. Hence, when encountering his former friend General Zod 33 years after his death (via his AI interface), Jor-El still attempted to reason with him, albeit to no avail. Jor-El was also extremely courageous, not being afraid to fight quite literally for the protection of his son, engaging Zod in battle, in order to give his son the chance to escape, giving up his own life in the process. Abilities *'Scientific Expertise:' as an illustrious member of the Kryptonian Thinker Guild, Jor-El was extremely intelligent, one of Krypton's foremost scientists and top minds. He notably designed the huge Black Zero starship. Jor-El was able to accurately predict that mining Krypton's core would result in its imminent collapse and, by extension, the destruction of the entire planet. In addition, despite most of Krypton being barren (due to thousands of years of strip mining), Jor-El was able to create artificial grass that he bedded onto a mountain peak near the House of El Citadel, where he kept a variety of wildlife such as avian like animals, Rondor beasts and his mount H'Raka. Finally, it was also Jor-El's brilliant plan that helped Superman and Lois return Black Zero and most of the Sword of Rao back to the Phantom Zone through a Phantom energy singularity (a plan that even Jax-Ur could not help but be impressed by, despite himself). Jor-El was a highly innovative character, who was breaking the thinking boundaries programmed into his engineered DNA. *'Master Marksman:' Jor-El also possessed amazing marksmanship with weapons, such as the Kryptonian Rifle, as seen when Zod's men arrested Jor-El, and Kelex intervened. *'Master Combatant:' Jor-El was also extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, swiftly defeating Tor-An and his men (albeit with some help from Kelex), and later even going toe-to-toe with someone as formidably skilled and dangerous as General Zod, ultimately subduing him. This impressive ability to fight and subdue an elite member of the Kryptonian Warrior Guild showed just how potent and skilled of a combatant Jor was. *'Master Flyer:' Jor-El was a highly skilled flyer, having no problems staying on H'Raka's back while she maneuvered around Zod's Attacks ships, even with her diving over a hundred feet through the air at very high speeds in the process. Equipment *'Battle Armor:' Jor-El owned a suit of highly durable combat armor (with the House of El glyph inscribed in its chest), which he wore while fighting off General Zod. It still did not, however, save him from being pierced by Zod's wrist-blade. Relationships Family *Lara Lor-Van † - wife *Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman † - son *Kara Zor-El - distant relative *H’Raka † - pet war-kite *Kelex † - service robot *Kelor † - service robot Allies *Kryptonian Law Council **High Eminence Lor-Em † **Ro-Zar † *Sapphire Guards † *Kryptonian Thinker Guild † *Lois Lane Enemies *Sword of Rao **General Zod † - friend turned enemy and killer **Faora **Nam-Ek **Tor-An **Jax-Ur **Car-Vex Behind the Scenes External Links * Jor-El at the Superman Wiki. * Jor-El at the Superman Anthology Wiki. Category:Man of Steel characters Category:Deceased characters Category:Kryptonians